System and method for migrating data in an electronic commerce system

ABSTRACT

A method for migrating product data within an electronic commerce system ( 10 ) includes monitoring requests for products by users ( 20 ) of a global content directory ( 42 ). The global content directory ( 42 ) includes a directory structure ( 44 ) including a number of product classes organized in a hierarchy. Each product class categorizes a plurality of products and defines one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class. The directory ( 44 ) also includes one or more pointers associated with each product class. Each pointer identifies a seller database ( 32 ) in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products associated with the product class. The method further includes identifying the location of a user ( 20 ) and determining that product data associated with a product requested by the user ( 20 ) should be migrated from a seller database ( 32 ) to a storage location closer to the user than the seller database ( 32 ). The method also includes initiating the migration of the product data from the seller database ( 32 ) to the storage location.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] Due to the ever-increasing popularity and accessibility of theInternet as a medium of communication between people around the world,the number of business transactions (or “e-commerce”) conducted usingthe Internet is also exponentially increasing. The majority ofe-commerce transactions occur when a buyer determines a need for aproduct, identifies a seller that provides that product, and accessesthe seller's web site to arrange a purchase of the product. If the buyerdoes not have a preferred seller or if the buyer is purchasing theproduct for the first time, then the buyer will often perform a searchfor a number of sellers that offer the product and then access numerousseller web sites to determine which seller offers certain desiredproduct features at the best price. The multiple one-to-one (one buyerto one seller) searches that this process requires are inefficientbecause of the large amount of searching involved in finding a productand because once a particular product is found, the various offerings ofthat product by different sellers may not be easily compared.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0002] According to the present invention, disadvantages and problemsassociated with previous electronic commerce systems and methods havebeen substantially reduced or eliminated.

[0003] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a methodfor migrating product data within an electronic commerce system includesmonitoring requests for products by users of a global content directory.The global content directory includes a directory structure including anumber of product classes organized in a hierarchy. Each product classcategorizes a plurality of products and defines one or more attributesof the products categorized in the product class. The directory alsoincludes one or more pointers associated with each product class. Eachpointer identifies a seller database in which product data enabling aproduct transaction is stored for products associated with the productclass. The method further includes identifying the location of a userand determining that product data associated with product data requestedby the user should be migrated from a seller database to a storagelocation closer to the user than the seller database. The method alsoincludes initiating the migration of the product data from the sellerdatabase to the storage location.

[0004] The systems and methods of the present invention provide a numberof important technical advantages. Embodiments of the present inventionprovide a global content directory that provides access to dataconcerning vast numbers of products. Therefore, a buyer may search for aproduct using the global content directory and the need for the buyer tosearch numerous sellers to find the desired product is reduced oreliminated. The global content directory provides access to dataconcerning these numerous products using a directory structure thatorganizes products using a hierarchical, object-oriented classificationsystem. A buyer may navigate or search the directory to find aparticular classification of products and various information associatedwith the products within this classification, initiate a search ofdatabases including data relating to a product, and then communicatewith an appropriate database. This access to vast numbers of products isprovided without the requirement that all data about the products bestored in a global database (which would greatly decrease performance).Instead the product data may be stored in seller databases that can bereadily accessed from the global content directory. Furthermore, theglobal content directory may direct buyers to sellers so that so thatonce the buyer finds a desired product, a transaction for the productmay be completed.

[0005] Certain embodiments of the present invention also provide anumbering system that is based on the hierarchical structure of theglobal content directory. This numbering system provides a globallyunique identifier (GUID) for each product in the global contentdirectory. This GUID may include elements that identify one or morehierarchical classifications of the global content directory in which aproduct is included and may be used to identify features of the product.In addition, a GUID (or an associated identifier) may be used toindicate the source of a product. Therefore, a buyer may use a GUID toidentify a product and to request information or additional transactionsfrom the source of the product.

[0006] Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention also providetechniques for enhancing the performance of the global content directoryand the associated seller databases. One such technique is to providefor the migration and caching or other storage of selected product dataassociated with one or more sellers. The product data is cached orotherwise stored at one or more nodes in a network, such as theInternet, that is used to coupled the buyers, sellers, and the globalcontent directory. Since the global content directory may direct a buyerto a seller of a particular product once the buyer has identified theproduct using the global content directory, it may be advantageous tomigrate and cache or otherwise store product data that enables atransaction between the buyer and seller at a location near the buyer.Therefore, the cost and efficiency of completing the transaction arereduced. This product data migration may be performed dynamically at thedirection of the global content directory to locate product data nearera buyer or buyers that frequently need to access the product data.

[0007] The performance of global content directory may also be enhancedusing selective, dynamic indexing of one or more seller databasesassociated with the global content directory. Although the indexing ofdata in a database often increases the speed at which data may be readfrom the database, such indexing also typically slows the updating orwriting of data to the database. Therefore, the overall performance ofglobal content directory may be enhanced by selectively indexing certainproduct data in the seller databases to optimize both reading andwriting of product data. Embodiments of the present invention maydetermine whether to index a particular type of data in a database basedon the frequency with which that data is read on behalf of buyers andthe frequency with which that data is updated by sellers (as well as thetime taken for reading and updating the data). This determination may bemade individually for each type of data and may be dynamic to accountfor changes in these frequencies.

[0008] Systems and methods incorporating one or more of these or othertechnical advantages are well suited for modem electronic commerceenvironments. Other technical advantages are readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the following figures, descriptions and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] To provide a more complete understanding of the present inventionand the features and advantages thereof, reference is made to thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

[0010]FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary electronic commerce system;

[0011]FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary directory structure of anexemplary global content directory;

[0012]FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary globally unique identifier thatmay be used to uniquely identify products that may be accessed from aglobal content directory;

[0013]FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary operation of an electronic commercesystem;

[0014]FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary table that may be included in aseller database of an electronic commerce system; and

[0015]FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary method for determining whether toindex the fields of a table in a seller database.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016]FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary electronic commerce (“e-commerce”)system 10 that includes a network 12 coupling buyers 20, sellers 30, anda global content directory (GCD) server 40. System 10 enables electroniccommerce (“e-commerce”) transactions between buyers 20 and sellers 30through the use of a GCD 42 supported by GCD server 40. Network 12 mayinclude any appropriate combination of public and private networkscoupling buyers 20, sellers 30, and GCD server 40. In an exemplaryembodiment, network 12 includes the Internet and any appropriate localarea networks or wide area networks coupling buyers 20, sellers 30, andGCD server 40 to the Internet. Since the Internet is accessible to thevast majority of buyers and sellers in the world, the present inventionpotentially includes all of these buyers and sellers as buyers 20 andsellers 30 of system 10. However, the use of the term “global” shouldnot be interpreted as a geographic limitation necessarily requiring thatGCD 42 provide directory services to buyers 20 and sellers 30 around theworld or that the content of GCD 42 be from all over the world.

[0017] It should be noted that although buyers 20 and sellers 30 areillustrated as separate entities, a buyer 20 in one transaction may be aseller 30 in another transaction (and a seller 30 in one transaction maybe a buyer 20 in another transaction). The terms “buyer” and “seller”may be used to refer to an individual or entity involved in atransaction and/or the computer(s) used by that individual or entity toconduct the transaction. Furthermore, although the terms “buyer” and“seller” are used, the present invention applies to any appropriate typeof e-commerce transactions and is not limited to the sale of goods,services, or other items.

[0018] Although a buyer 20 may have a need for a “product” (meaning allgoods, services, information, and other tangible or intangible itemsthat may be the subject of any appropriate type of transaction) andmultiple sellers 30 may provide that product, there are many steps thatmust occur before a transaction involving the product may be completed.These steps may include, but are not limited to: (1) the cataloging ofproducts and product features by sellers 30, (2) the matching of abuyer's demands to one or more products of one or more sellers 30(through the searching of seller catalogs), (3) the identification ofcommercial information (such as price) related to a product, (4) theconnection of the buyer 20 to a potential seller 30, (5) the agreementof what seller 30 is to provide buyer 20, (6) the negotiation of aprice, (7) the legal settlement of the transaction, and (8) thearrangement of logistics to physically complete the transaction.

[0019] The first three steps above may be grouped into what may bereferred to as the “discovery” phase of a transaction. In the discoveryphase of many typical e-commerce transactions, a buyer 20 performs asearch for a number of sellers 30 that offer a desired product and thenaccesses numerous seller web sites to determine which seller 30 offerscertain desired features of the product at the best price. Sellers 30may each provide one or more databases 32, such as relational databases,that include data identifying the seller's products and their features.Such databases 32 may be accessed through each seller's web site or inany other appropriate manner. The multiple one-to-one (one buyer 20 toone seller 30) searches that this process requires are inefficient andexpensive because of the large amount of searching involved in finding aproduct and because once a particular product is found, the variousofferings of that product by different sellers may not be easilycompared.

[0020] Alternatively, multiple sellers 30 may be grouped in anelectronic marketplace according to the products they provide and abuyer 20 may search the offerings of the multiple sellers 30 at a singleweb site. However, if buyer 20 wishes to obtain several different typesof products, then buyer 20 may have to go to several different types ofmarketplaces. Furthermore, there may be numerous competing marketplacesthat buyer 20 has to search to perform the discovery phase of atransaction for a particular product. One potential method of addressingthis problem is to create a global product database that potentiallyincludes data identifying the features of all the products that anybuyer may wish to obtain. Therefore, the global database would includethe combined contents of every database 32 associated with every seller30. However, such a global database would have many problems. Forexample, the sheer size of the database would make it difficult tosearch and thus the database would suffer from performance problems. Inaddition, it would be difficult to allow large numbers of buyers 20 tosearch the database at once. Furthermore, all sellers 30 would berequired to access the global database to update their information andthe entire database would have to be updated each time a change is made.Many other problems might also exist.

[0021] A solution to the above problems, at least in part, is GCD 42.GCD 42 is a universal directory of the contents of multiple sellerdatabases 32 (and potentially all seller databases 32). GCD 42 may beimplemented using one or more servers 40 or other computers located atone or more locations. Most or all of the database content (such asproduct data, which may include an identifier of the product,descriptions of product features, information enabling a transactionrelating to a product, or any other appropriate data or information) isstored in databases 32, but all of this content is accessible using GCD42. Therefore, like the global database described above, GCD 42 providesbuyers 20 with access to product data relating to a multitude ofproducts, but unlike the global database, GCD 42 does not attempt tostore all of this product data in one enormous database. Instead, GCD 42provides a directory of products using a directory structure in whichproducts are organized using an hierarchical, object-orientedclassification system (a “taxonomy”). A buyer 20 may navigate or searchthe directory to find a particular product and product data associatedwith the product. After a certain point of specificity, the product dataassociated with a product may actually be stored in and obtained by GCD42 from a seller database 32. However, the requested product data may betransparently provided to buyer 20 such that all of the product data mayappear to buyer 20 as being included in GCD 42.

[0022]FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary directory structure 44 of anexemplary GCD 42. Products categorized in GCD 42 may be organizedaccording to schemas. A schema may include the various classes intowhich a product is categorized (which may be referred to as “taxonomy”)and the various features used to organize products in a particular class(which may be referred to as “ontology”). In exemplary directorystructure 44, products may be organized and cataloged according toindustry standard schemas 46 or other appropriate schemas, as describedbelow. Within industry standard schemas 46, there are two exemplaryclasses: a direct materials class 48 and an indirect materials class 50.Each of these classes 48 and 50 includes several sub-classes which maythemselves include sub-classes). Therefore, the numerous classes ofdirectory structure 44 form a “tree-like” hierarchical structure intowhich products may be categorized.

[0023] For exemplary purposes, certain portions of directory structure44 are “expanded” to show various levels of classes. The “level” of aclass is indicated by the number of other classes between that a classand a root class (for example, industry standard schemas class 46). Forexample, indirect material class 50 is at the same level in directorystructure as direct material class 48. Indirect material class 50 mayinclude an office and computer supplies class 52, which includes a desksupplies class 54, which includes a writing utensils class 56.Furthermore, writing utensils class 56 includes a pens class 58, whichincludes numerous pen type classes 60 a-60 n (“n” indicating that anynumber of classes 60 may be included in pens class 58). Each of classes50, 52, 54, 56, 58, and 60 is located at a different level of directorystructure 44. A class at any level in directory structure may includeone or more sub-classes, those sub-classes may include one or moresub-classes, and so on until a desired specificity of categorization isreached. A series of classes from a highest level class (the broadestclass) to a lowest level class (the most specific class) may be referredto as a “branch” of directory structure 44. For example, classes 46, 48,50, 52, 54, 56, 58, and 60 b form one branch of directory structure 44.

[0024] A buyer 20 may navigate through directory structure 44 byexpanding or collapsing various classes as desired. For example, FIG. 2illustrates an expansion of certain classes of directory structure 44 toreach a felt-tip pen class 60 b. Once a buyer 20 has navigated to aclass that is specific enough for buyer 20 (and/or a class that is atthe end of a branch), buyer 20 may then perform a search for productsincluded in that class. For example, buyer 20 can search for allproducts in writing utensils class 56 that are blue felt-tip pins havingmedium tips. Alternatively, if buyer 20 navigates to the end of a branchof directory structure 44, such as felt-tip pen class 60 b, GCD 42 maythen enable buyer 20 to search for such pens that have blue ink andmedium tips (which may reach the same result as the search above).

[0025] However, as described above, product features (at least featuresthat are more specific than the features defined by a class, asdescribed below) are not typically stored in GCD 42, but are stored indatabases 32. For example, a seller 30 may maintain a relationaldatabase 32 that includes a plurality of tables defining selectedfeatures of a variety of products. One or more pointers may beassociated with each class to identify the location of one or moredatabases 32 that include product data for products contained in thatclass or to identify particular data products in databases 32.Therefore, GCD 42 may execute a search for products in databases 32identified by a pointer corresponding to a user-selected class. GCD 42may also return the network location (such as a uniform resource locator(URL) or other network address) of the database 32 to buyer 20 so thatbuyer 20 may independently access database 32. Databases 32 may besearched using any appropriate method including, but not limited to, astructured query language (SQL) query.

[0026] GCD 42 may be implemented using the lightweight directory accessprotocol (LDAP). LDAP enables directories to be provided using thetree-like structure described above. However, any other appropriatetechnique or protocol for creating GCD 42 may alternatively be used andGCD 42 may have any appropriate structure. Furthermore, GCD 42 may be anobject-oriented directory (which is also provided by LDAP) such thateach class in directory structure 44 includes the attributes of parentclasses in which the class is a sub-class. Therefore, a product classlisted at the end of a branch of the tree structure includes all of theattributes of its parent classes in the branch. Furthermore, eachproduct included in a database 32 may be an object that includes all theattributes of the classes in which the product is included. Thus, when asearch is performed from a class at the end of a branch of directorystructure 44, the search query may automatically include any appropriateattributes of parent classes of the class.

[0027] For example, if a buyer 20 has navigated through directorystructure 44 to felt-tip pens class 60 b, a search performed by buyer 20(or by GCD 42 on behalf of buyer 20) from felt-tip pens class 60 b mayautomatically be limited to a search for felt-tip pens and buyer 20 mayintroduce additional desired search criteria (such as blue ink andmedium tip). Therefore, if the database(s) 32 searched includes productdata relating to a variety of writing utensils, a search of database 32may be automatically limited by GCD 42 to only include felt-tip penswithin that database 32. If a search including only the class attributesas the search criteria is not specific enough, buyer 20 may identifyadditional product features as additional search criteria.

[0028] When GCD 42 has performed a search of the databases 32 identifiedby a pointer associated with a class that buyer 20 has selected, GCD 42returns product data associated with one or more products that fit thesearch criteria. GCD 42 may integrate the product data resulting fromthe search into directory structure 44 so that the product data appearsto buyer 20 as being part of GCD 42. GCD 42 may alternatively presentthe results of the search in any other appropriate manner. Each productresulting from the search may be an object which is unique instance ofthe class in which buyer 20 is searching. Each such object (and itslocation) may be uniquely identified using a numbering schemecorresponding to directory structure 44, as described below. As can beseen from the description above, GCD 42 provides the advantages of aglobal database without many of the disadvantages associated which sucha global database. These advantages are realized since GCD 42 providesaccess to and presentation of global product data without actuallystoring all such data.

[0029] Different seller databases 32 may include product data about thesame class of product (for example felt-tip pens), however thesedifferent databases 32 may identify products of that class usingdifferent features, they may use different names for the same productfeature, and/or they may quantify product features in different units ofmeasurement. Some of these issues may be solved using translationmechanisms that convert the data into a uniform format used by GCD 42.In addition, sellers 30 may create databases 32 (or modify existingdatabases 32) to conform to a uniform standard in anticipation of adatabase 32 being used in association with global content directory 42.If a database 32 does not completely conform to such a uniform standard,the database 32 may be partially integrated into GCD 42, but someproducts in the database 32 may not be properly identified and presentedto a buyer 20 using GCD 42. Therefore, through translation mechanismsand market pressure to be included and fully integrated into a globaldirectory of products, a seller databases 32 may conform to the uniformstandard used by GCD 42 to identify the particular class or classes ofproducts included in the database 32.

[0030] Although exemplary directory 44 may use industry standard schemas46 as described above, any other appropriate number of schemas 62 may beused in addition to or instead of industry standard schemas 46. Forexample, while industry standard schemas 46 may be organized from amanufacturer's viewpoint, other schemas 62 may be used that organizeproducts from a buyer's viewpoint. For example, a buyer 20 may wish tofurnish a kitchen of a new house with various products, such asappliances, window treatments, paint, cabinetry, plumbing, dishes, andcooking utensils. Using one set of schemas 62, these products may beorganized into a variety of unrelated classes based on certain featuresof the products (for example, certain kitchen appliances may becategorized in an electronics class 52 of directory structure 44 whilepaint may be categorized into an industrial class 52). However, anotherexemplary set of schemas 62 may categorize all such products into a homeproducts class (which may include several classes further categorizingthe products, such as a kitchen products class which includes a kitchenappliances class, which includes a refrigerator class, and so on).Therefore, the same product may be included in multiple schemas 62.These alternative schemas may be included in directory structure 44 andmay be stored as a part of or separate from GCD 42.

[0031] In summary, a buyer 20 may search for a product using GCD 42 andthus eliminate or reduce the need for buyer 20 to search numeroussellers 30 to find the desired product. GCD 42 provides access toproduct data relating to these numerous products using directorystructure 44, which organizes products using a hierarchical,object-oriented classification system. Buyer 20 may navigate or searchdirectory structure 44 to find a particular classification of productsand various information associated with the products within thisclassification, initiate a search of databases 32 including product datarelating to a product, and then communicate with an appropriate database32. This access to vast numbers of products is provided without therequirement that all data about the products be stored in a globaldatabase (which would greatly decrease performance). Instead the productdata may be stored in seller databases 32 that can be readily accessedfrom the global content directory.

[0032]FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary globally unique identifier (GUID)100 that may be used to uniquely identify products that may be accessedusing GCD 42. Directory structure 44 of GCD 42 provides a powerful toolfor organizing and categorizing products. This organizational structuremay also be used to identify products and product features using a GUID100 that identifies the various classes into which a product iscategorized. Furthermore, as described below, source information (suchas information about a supplier or manufacturer) may also be included ina GUID 100 to identify a specific manufacturer, supplier, and/or otherentity from which the specific product may be obtained.

[0033] The exemplary GUID 100 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes a classidentifier (CID) 110 and a product identifier (PID) 120. CID 110 and PID120 may be combined in any appropriate manner to form GUID 100.Exemplary CID 110 identifies the classes of GCD 42 into which a productidentified by GUID 100 is categorized. The numbers identifying suchclasses are concatenated in order from a highest level class number 112a to a lowest level class number 112 n. For example, class number 112 amay identify a particular instance of GCD 42 (if there is more than onecopy of GCD 42 or if GCD 42 is divided for load balancing) or mayidentify a set of schemas, such as industry standard schemas 46. Classnumber 112 n may identify a class at the end of a branch of directorystructure 44, such as felt-tip pen class 60 b, or any other class whichis a sub-class of the class or category identified by class number 112a. The class numbers 112 between class numbers 112 a and 112 n may thenidentify in succession the classes in directory structure 44 between thehighest level class (identified by class number 112 a) and the lowestlevel class (identified by class number 112 n). In this case, eachsuccessive class number 112 identifies a sub-class of the classidentified by the previous class number 112 in CID 110.

[0034] As an example only, the exemplary classes illustrated indirectory structure 44 of FIG. 2 have been labeled with class numbers112 in parenthesis to the right of the class name. Using these classnumbers 112, exemplary CID 110 illustrates one technique for identifyingfelt-tip pen class 60 b. In this example, the first class number 112 aidentifies GCD 42, the second class number 112 b identifies industrystandard schemas 46, the third class number 112 c identifies indirectmaterials class 50, the fourth class number 112 d identifies office andcomputer supplies class 52, the fifth class number 112 e identifies desksupplies class 54, the sixth class number 112 f identifies writingutensils class 56, the seventh class number 112 g identifies pens class58, and the eighth class number 112 n identifies felt-tip pen class 60b.

[0035] As is illustrated, the various class numbers 112 are concatenatedso that each previous class number 112 gives meaning to subsequent classnumbers 112. In this example, the sub-classes directly under each classof directory structure 44 are numbered starting at one (and ending atany appropriate number, indicated by “n”). Since multiple classes on thesame level of directory structure 44 may have the same class number 112,such classes are uniquely identified by referring to the higher levelclasses in which the classes are included. For example, office andcomputer supplies class 52 is located on the same level as and has thesame class number 112 as an electronics class 64; however, office andcomputer supplies class 52 may be uniquely identified by concatenatingthe class numbers 112 of industry standard schemas 46, indirect materialclass 50, and office and computer supplies class 52 to form a unique CID(in this case, “1.2.2”). This numbering scheme provides flexibility whenadding and removing classes at any level. For example, another “pentype” class 60 may be added under pen class 58 and numbered withoutdisrupting the numbering scheme of directory structure 44.

[0036] Although an exemplary numbering system has been introduced, theclasses may be numbered using any appropriate technique. For example,each class above a particular level in directory structure 44 may have aunique class number 112 and each class below that particular level maybe numbered as described above. Such a numbering system may be useful toreduce the length of a concatenated CID 110. For example, office andcomputer class 52 may have a unique number (as well as all classes atthe same level or above), so that the “1.1.2.2” at the beginning ofexemplary CID 110 may be replaced with this single number. Any othersuitable numbering technique may also be used.

[0037] Exemplary GUID 100 also includes PID 120 which is used touniquely identify a specific product that is included in the classidentified by CID 110. Using the example above, PID 120 may identify aparticular product in felt-tip pen class 60 b. For example, PID 120 mayidentify a blue felt-tip pen having a medium tip and manufactured by aparticular company. Therefore, since the classes of directory structuremay not include all of the attributes of a particular product that maybe needed to uniquely identify the product (for example, there aremultiple types of felt-tip pens that may be included in felt-tip penclass 60 b), PID 120 may be used to further identify a particularproduct in a class. Since each unique product in seller databases 32 maybe an object of a class in GCD 42, PID 120 (combined with CID 110 toform GUID 100) can be used to uniquely identify any product included indatabases 32.

[0038] A buyer 20 using GCD 42 may select a particular class of GCD 42,such as felt-tip pens class 60 b, and request that a search be performedfor all blue felt tip pens included in class 60 b. In response to thissearch request, GCD 42 may initiate a search of one or more sellerdatabases 32 (or one or more sets of product data in databases 32)identified by one or more pointers associated with class 60 b. Theresults of this search of databases 32 may include product data for eachof a number of blue felt-tip pens meeting the search criteria (theproduct data may include features of the product that were not searchedfor). Furthermore, a GUID 100 for each blue felt-tip pen may beassociated and/or displayed with or be included in the product data.Buyer 20 may then choose one of the blue felt-tip pens identified in thesearch (for example, a medium point pen manufactured by XYZ Companyhaving a price of fifty cents per pen).

[0039] In addition to CID 110 and PID 120, a GUID 100 may also includeor be associated with a repository identifier (RID). An RID is a uniqueID assigned to a seller 30 included in e-commerce system 10. An RID mayalso indicate a manufacturer of a product (if different than the seller30) and any other entity involved in the manufacture, distribution, andsale of a product (one or more of which may be identified using a singleRID). When buyer 20 selects a product listed in search results displayedby GCD 42, GCD 42 may identify one or more sellers 30 from which theproduct may be obtained using an RID. Each RID may identify the networklocation (such as a URL or other network address) of the seller database32 that includes the product (or an associated web site through whichthe product is available), so that buyer 20 may access the database 32and/or web site to purchase the product or conduct some othertransaction regarding to the product. An RID may be associated with aURL or an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a computer coupled to theInternet (or another network) that supports the database 32 and/or website. An RID may be returned to a buyer 20 in response to the enteringor selection of a CID 110 and PID 120. An RID may also be included,along with a CID 110 and PID 120, on a label or other part of a productso that a buyer 20 may determine how to obtain additional products ofthat type.

[0040] An RID may use any appropriate format to uniquely identifysellers 30. For example, sellers 30 may be numbered in order as sellers30 are included in system 10. A numbering scheme may alternatively beused in which the number or combination of numbers assigned to a seller30 identifies a characteristic or characteristics of the seller 30. Forexample, sellers 30 in a particular country may be assigned a numberfrom a predefined range of numbers. Alternatively, a prefix may beincluded in a RID to identify the location of a seller 30 (much like anarea code in a telephone number). Any other appropriatecharacteristic(s) of a seller 30 may also be identified using RID andany suitable numbering format may be used.

[0041] GUID 100 may also include or be associated with a featureidentifier (FID). As described above, a CID 110 and a PID 120 may beused to uniquely identify a product having a unique set of features.Some of these features are defined by the attributes of the classes ofGCD 42 in which the product is included, but other features are definedin a database 32 and may be identified as a unique grouping of featuresby a PID 120 (however, two products in a database 32 may have identicalfeatures listed in database 32 but different PIDs, since the differencebetween the products may be associated with features not included indatabase 32 or may be simply a difference in the PID assigned by themanufacturer for the same product). One or more of the group of featuresidentified by a PID may be individually identified using an FID. Forexample, if a buyer 20 wants to identify the color of ink in aparticular pen (the pen identified using a CID 110 and PID 120), thenthe buyer 20 may do so by including the FID associated with ink colorwith the CID 110 and PID 120 in a search. The search results may theninclude the color of the ink that is used in the identified product.Alternatively, an FID may be used to specify a particular feature (sucha blue ink) as a search criteria when searching for a product (such asfelt-tip pens).

[0042]FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary operation of e-commerce system 10. Asdescribed above, numerous buyers 20 and sellers 30 may be coupled to GCDserver 40 using network 12. Buyers 20 may access server 40 using a webbrowser or in any other appropriate manner and server 40 may providebuyers 20 with access to GCD 42 using web server software and/orhardware or in any other appropriate manner. Server 40 may also includehardware and/or software for implementing one or more GCD interfaces 43.A buyer 20 may access server 40 and use a GCD interface 43 to search ornavigate GCD 42 and/or seller databases 32. Information may becommunicated between buyers 20, sellers 30, and GCD 42 using hypertexttransport protocol (HTTP), extensible markup language (XML), simpleobject access protocol (SOAP), or any other suitable communicationtechnique. Each buyer 20 and seller 30 may be issued a unique identifierso that the participants in a transaction facilitated by GCD 42 may beidentified.

[0043] In an exemplary transaction, a buyer 20 may access a GCDinterface 43 and perform a search of global content directory 42. GCDinterface 43 may allow buyer 20 to both navigate or “browse” the classesof GCD 42 and to search for a particular class or classes. For example,buyer 20 may either navigate GCD 42 to find a class into which pens arecategorized or buyer 20 may search GCD 42 for class names including theword “pen.” Any other suitable methods for identifying a particularclass may also be used. When buyer 20 has located the appropriate classfor the product buyer 20 desires, buyer 20 may then request a listing ofproducts in that class having certain features. For example, if buyer 20is browsing felt-tip pens class 60 b, buyer 20 may request all productsin class 60 b (felt-tip pens) that have red ink and a fine tip.

[0044] A search interface 45, or any other appropriate component of GCDserver 40, may facilitate such a request by searching or requestingsearches of seller databases 32 identified by one or more pointersassociated with felt-tip pens class 60 b, as described above. Searchinterface 45 may provide buyer 20 with a search form in which to enterone or more search criteria. The types of search criteria that may beused may be identified in the search form or buyer may be allowed toperform a general search of databases 32 for certain terms. For example,search interface 45 may provide buyer 20 with a search form tailored forclass 60 b that includes fields where buyer 20 can specify a desired inkcolor, tip thickness, or any other appropriate criteria. Alternatively,search interface 45 may provide a single field where buyer can enter indesired search terms, such as “red” and “fine” (multiple search termsmay be entered using Boolean operators or any other appropriatetechnique).

[0045] Based on the search terms provided by buyer (and possibly basedon any appropriate attributes of the class from which the search isconducted), search interface 45 may communicate a query to theappropriate seller database(s) 32 requesting that databases 32 eachreturn a listing of all products (including associated product data)that meet the search criteria. Databases 32 may also communicate productdata relating to features of the matching products that were notincluded in the search criteria. For example, databases 32 may return aprice and availability of a product that meets the search criteria evenif the price and availability were not search criteria. The responses tothe queries of databases 32 may be displayed to buyer 20 in anyappropriate manner. For example, the products may be listed in order ofrelevance to the search criteria according to improved matching criteriaas described in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/______,______filed Dec. ______, 2000 (Attorney's Docket 020431.0749). Any otherappropriate method of determining relevance may alternatively be used.Furthermore, GCD 42 may reorder the product listing based on a requestfrom buyer 20. For example, buyer 20 may request that the matchingproducts be listed in order from least expensive to most expensive. Eachproduct in listing may be associated with a GUID 100 and/or an RID.

[0046] Buyer 20 may select a product from the product listing toindicate a desire to initiate a transaction regarding the product, suchas a purchase of the product. Upon such a selection, GCD 42 maycommunicate an RID of the supplier of the product and a GUID 100 for theproduct to buyer 20. For example, RID may be the network address (suchas an IP address) of a seller network node 30 or may be associated withthe network address in a table (in which case GCD 42 may use the RID tolook up the associated network address and then communicate the networkaddress to buyer 20). Buyer may access the seller 30 using the RID (ornetwork address) and request a transaction regarding the product usingthe GUID 100. GCD 42 may even provide a link including a URL of a website associated with the seller 30 or may provide other appropriatemethod for buyer 20 to be connected to seller 20. Although only a singleexemplary arrow (between buyer 20 n and seller 30 n) is shown toillustrate communication between buyers 20 and sellers 30, it should beunderstood that any buyer 20 may communicate with any seller 30 toconduct appropriate transactions.

[0047] Since GCD 42 is able to communicate with databases 32 to identifycertain products requested by a buyer 20, information about the productscategorized in GCD 42 does not have to be stored at GCD 42. Furthermore,since buyer 20 may communicate directly with an appropriate seller 30after selecting a product identified by GCD 42 and being given locationinformation for a seller 30 of the product, GCD 42 does not have tomaintain resources to support transactions relating to the product.Therefore, by linking a directory of products to databases 32 containinginformation about the products, potentially every product in the worldmay be made available to a buyer 20 without having to store informationabout all such products (which would be infeasible due to the immenseamount of data that would have to be stored, the difficulties associatedwith keeping the data up to date, and other problems).

[0048] In addition to providing a method of identifying products locatedusing GCD 42, a GUID 100 may also be used in the physical world toidentify products. Similarly, an RID may be used to identify the sourceof a particular product. Therefore, a GUID 100 may be used to replace auniversal product code (UPC) that currently is used to identify aproduct. Unlike a UPC, however, a GUID 100 provides a much more flexiblenumbering scheme (for example, it may be expanded to accommodate theaddition of an unlimited number of classes at any level in directorystructure 44) and provides a definition of certain attributes of aproduct through its connection to the object-oriented class hierarchy ofGCD 42. An RID may also be associated with (or be included in GUID 100)to provide the identity of the source of the product. Therefore, if abuyer 20 desires to purchase a product having a GUID 100 and RID, theGUID 100 and RID may be scanned or entered into a computer coupled toe-commerce system 10 (or coupled to sellers 30) to initiate a purchaseof the product. For example, if a buyer 20 runs out of milk, buyer 20may scan or enter in the GUID 100 and RID located on the empty milk jugand also enter in a unique identifier of the buyer 20. Based on the RID,the product request may be directed to the appropriate seller 30 and theseller may use a buyer identifier to charge buyer 20 for another milkjug and to ship the milk jug to the buyer 20. Any appropriate systemsmay be implemented to perform the functions necessary to complete such atransaction. A buyer 20 may also communicate a GUID 100 to GCD 42 todetermine the RID of and/or other information about one or more sellers30 that supply the product with the GUID 100. A GUID 100 and/or an RIDalso may be used in numerous other ways to streamline businesstransactions.

[0049] As described above, one advantage of GCD 42 is that it providesaccess to vast numbers of products but does not have to store muchinformation about these products (since the information in stored inseller databases 32). Furthermore, GCD 42 may direct buyer 20 to sellers30 to conduct a transaction regarding a product, so GCD 42 does not haveto support e-commerce transactions between buyer 20 and sellers 30.However, since buyers 20 may typically communicate with sellers 30 tocomplete a transaction, the performance of e-commerce system 10 may bedecreased if a buyer 20 and seller 30 involved in a transaction arelocated at a large distance from one another (since the communicationtime is increased). Furthermore, performance may be decreased if aparticular seller 30 experiences a large volume of transactions and isunable to support such a volume. Therefore, certain embodiments of thepresent invention contemplate the dynamic migration of product datarelating to a particular product(s) from seller databases 32 to networknodes that are closer to frequent buyers 20 of the product(s). Buyers 20may then access the migrated product data to conduct transactions withsellers 30 associated with the migrated product data (or buyers 20 maydirectly access the seller database or databases 32 from which theproduct data is copied). As described above, “product data” may includedata describing various features of a product as well as any softwarethat may be used to support a purchase of the product or any othertransaction relating to the product.

[0050] As described above, buyers 20 are directed by GCD 42 to accessproduct data that is stored in seller databases 32. A database 32 may becontrolled by an associated seller 30 and is often associated with aseller web site that provides buyers 20 with the ability to conducttransaction with seller 30. As numerous buyers 20 access GCD 42 and aredirected to seller databases 32 to conduct product transactions, GCD 42may establish a record of the databases 32 that are typically accessedby each buyer 20. For example, an office supply retailer may frequentlyrequest products, such as pens, that are included in office and computersupplies class 52. Using the results of such product requests returnedby GCD 42 (such as the RIDs of particular sellers 30), the office supplyretailer may access one or more seller databases 32 that include productdata for various office supplies. Such seller databases 32 may include avariety of office supplies or may specialize in one or more types ofoffice supplies, such as writing utensils.

[0051] In response to a number of requests by a buyer 20 that result inbuyer 20 accessing a particular seller database 32 (a “requesthistory”), GCD 42 may determine that some or all of the product data inthe database 32 should be migrated to a network node in e-commercesystem 10 that is closer to buyer 20 than the actual database 32 basedon a determination or prediction from the request history that the buyer20 will request the product data again. The node to which such productdata is migrated is preferably located closer to buyer 20 than theseller database 32 so that the access time required to obtain productdata or otherwise conduct a transaction is reduced. Furthermore, themigration of product data may be dependent upon the request history ofmultiple buyers 20, such as a number of different office supplyretailers. In such a case, the relevant product data may be migrated toa network node that is located closer to each of the buyers 20 than theactual seller database 32 from which the product data originates.Alternatively, the same product data may be migrated to multiplelocations, in whole or in part, to provide efficient access by multiplebuyers 20. Any appropriate algorithm may be used to determine theappropriate caching or other storage locations.

[0052] The number of locations to which a particular set of product datais migrated may be determined by balancing the advantages of locatingthe product data close to each associated buyer 20 and the disadvantagesof having multiple caches or other stores (such as the need for datastorage space at multiple caching nodes and the need for synchronizationof product data at the source database 32 and the multiple caches).Moreover, when multiple buyers 20 influence the migration decision, therelative data access requirements of each buyer 20 may be weighted so asto locate the cached product data closest to the buyer or buyers 20 thatmost frequently need to access the data. For example, although a numberof small retail chains may frequently access product data relating tooffice supplies, the product data may be migrated closer to the locationof a large retail chain (although the storage location or locations maystill be closer to each of the retail chains than the actual sellerdatabase 32).

[0053] GCD 42 may use any appropriate technique for predicting futurerequests of buyers 20 for product data based on the request history ofbuyers 20. Any other suitable information about buyers 20 may also beused to predict future requests by buyers 20 and such predictions may beupdated as GCD 42 obtains additional information. GCD 42 may use anyappropriate caching or other data storage technique to direct themigration of product data to one or more network nodes. These networknodes may include a network device associated with any buyer 20 orseller 30, a network device used solely for the purpose of caching orotherwise storing migrated data, or any other device coupled to anetwork accessible by a buyer 20 wanting to access the migrated data.For example, a selected amount of data storage space associated withnumerous buyers 20 and sellers 30 may be allocated for GCD 42 to use asneeded for caching space (possibly as a requirement to register with GCD42). Therefore, as an example, product data associated with seller 30 aand requested by buyer 30 a may be cached at seller 30 b or at buyer 30b. As another example, product data that is frequently accessed by buyer20 a may be cached at buyer 20 a (and such cached product data may belocated inside a firewall of buyer 20 a).

[0054] GCD 42 may manage all of the available caching space so as tooptimize the caching of numerous sets of product data for numerousbuyers 20 using a particular set of product data. GCD 42 may migrate aparticular set of product data to different locations as the buyers 20using that product data change or as that particular location becomesneeded for migration of other product data. If a particular set ofproduct data has not been requested for a selected period of time, thatproduct data may be overwritten by different product data to be cachedinstead of being migrated to a different caching location (such as in aleast recently used caching algorithm).

[0055] GCD 42 may determine whether all or a portion of the product datain a seller database 32 should be migrated and cached or otherwisestored near a buyer 20. For example, if a database 32 includes productdata for a variety of office supplies, GCD 42 may only cache the productdata relating to pens if the relevant buyers 20 are only requestinginformation about pens. Other product data in the database 32 may bemigrated elsewhere for different buyers. Furthermore, product data fromseveral different databases 32 may be cached together (although theseller 30 associated with a particular product may still be individuallyidentified). For example, product data relating to a variety of penssold by a variety of sellers 30 may be migrated to the same location.Data from different databases 32 that is cached together may be mergedinto a single database (or database table) or may stored as separatedatabases (or tables) at the caching location.

[0056] The migration of product data improves the efficiency oftransactions between buyers 20 and sellers 30 in e-commerce system byreducing the access time and transaction costs associated with a buyer20 accessing product data of a seller 30 used to conduct thetransaction. However, since the product data accessed by the buyer 20 isonly a migrated copy of the product data stored at the associated sellerdatabase 32, the migrated data should be updated when the product datais updated at the seller database 32 (the migrated product data shouldbe “synchronized” with the product data stored in seller database 32).Although the synchronization of product data may require resources ine-commerce system, the frequency with which product data changes in aseller database 32 is typically less than the frequency with which theproduct data is accessed by buyers 20. Therefore, it is often moreefficient to migrate and cache or otherwise store product data closer toa buyer 20 (and thus farther from the associated seller 30) even if thiscreates the need from updated data to be communicated to the remotecaching locations.

[0057] Migrated data may be synchronized using any appropriatetechnique. As an example, a pointer may exist between a seller database32 and a migrated copy of product data from the database 32. Whenproduct data is updated at database 32, database 32 (or any otherappropriate component associated with seller 30) then determines whetherthere are any pointers associated with the product data that wasupdated. If so, the updated product data may be communicated to themigration location and the migrated product data can be replaced with ormodified using the updated product data.

[0058] In addition to directing the migration of product data at aremote migration location, GCD 42 may also cache the results of frequentqueries made by buyers 20 using GCD 42. Such results may include listsof products resulting from a buyer's search for products in a particularclass. As described above, GCD 42 may generate these product lists(which may include a GUID 100 and an RID associated with each product)based on queries of the databases 32 identified by pointers associatedwith a particular class in GCD 42. Therefore, if GCD 42 cachesfrequently performed queries, then GCD 42 may not have to perform suchqueries each time a buyer 20 makes a search request. Instead, GCD 42 maydisplay the cached search results. Any appropriate caching technique maybe used to store search results or the results of other queriesperformed by GCD 42. Furthermore, the cached search results may beupdated using any appropriate techniques. For example, GCD 42 mayperform a new query instead of using cached results once a selectedamount of time has passed since the results were updated. Alternatively,a seller database 32 may inform GCD 42 when data communicated fromdatabase 32 in response to a GCD 42 query has been modified.

[0059] As described above, migration of product data for caching orother storage at locations nearer to the buyers 20 that frequentlyaccess the product data is one way to optimize the performance ofe-commerce system 10. Another way that the performance of system 10 maybe enhanced is to optimize the indexing of the data stored in sellerdatabases 32. An index of a database 32, like an index of a book,provides a quicker method of locating requested information in adatabase 32. Therefore, an index decreases the time it takes to performa “read” of a database 32. Data also often needs to be added, deleted,and modified in a database 32 (which may be referred to as a “write” toa database 32). However, when data is written to a database 32, anyindex of that data also has to be updated or modified. Therefore, theefficiency and speed of data writes to a database 32 is decreased if thedata is indexed. Therefore, to optimize the performance of a database32, the decision of whether to index particular categories of data in adatabase 32 may be based on the number of reads and writes associatedwith that data.

[0060]FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary table 150 that may be included ina seller database 32. Database 32 may include one or more tables 150 andeach table 150 may contain product data relating to one or more types ofproducts. For example, exemplary table 150 includes product datarelating to different types of pens. However, table 150 could alsoinclude product data for other types of products (for example, othertypes of office supplies) or this product data may be contained in othertables 150 in database 32. Table 150 includes a plurality of columns 152that each include data relating to a particular product feature.Although an exemplary number of columns 152 including exemplary productfeatures are illustrated, it should be understood that any appropriatenumber and type of product features or other categories of data may beincluded in table 150. Table 150 also includes a number of rows 154 thatmay each correspond to a particular product (and an associated PID) andthat each include data values for one or more of the product features.Each of the data values (which may be numeric, textual, or in any otherappropriate format) is located at the intersection of the row 154associated with a particular product and the column 152 that includes aparticular product feature. Each of these intersections may be referredto as a field or cell 156 of table 150.

[0061] As described above, the data in one or more columns 152 of table150 may be indexed to increase the speed with which database reads maybe conducted. For example, the fields 156 of ink color column 152 d andtip size column 152 e may be indexed so that a database query for a penhaving a particular ink color and tip size may be quickly performed.Data in table 150 may be indexed using any appropriate database indexingtechnique. The typical result of such indexing is that when GCD 42 or abuyer 20 requests indexed data from a database 32, the associateddatabase management system (or other appropriate interface to database32) does not have to search through every field 156 in the tables 150included in database 32 to locate the requested data. Instead, the datamay be indexed such that when GCD 42 or a buyer 20 submits a query forproducts having certain values of features that have been indexed, thedatabase management system already knows the locations of such productsin table 150 and may return product data associated with these productswithout searching the entire table 150 or database 32 for the products.For example, if the ink color fields 156 and tip size fields 156 ofcolumns 152 d and 152 e, respectively, are indexed, then the index willtypically identify the location of all products having black ink and amedium tip size.

[0062] If GCD 42 or a buyer 20 submits a query that also specifies acertain value or values of non-indexed features (for example, a queryfor pens manufactured by ABC Company, if the manufacturer fields 156 incolumn 152 c are not indexed), then the associated database managementsystem may perform a search of database 32 for products that include thespecified value or values of the non-indexed features. However, such asearch may be limited to the products already identified (using theindex) as including specified values of indexed features (for example,pens having black ink and a medium tip) that are also included in thesearch. Therefore, the amount of time required to perform the search maybe reduced even though one or more of the features that are searched forare not indexed.

[0063] As described above, although the indexing of fields 156 providesthe advantage of speeding up reads of databases 32, such indexing slowsthe process of writing to databases 32 (since the indices, as well astables 150, must be updated when the data in indexed fields 156 ischanged). Therefore, the number of writes performed should be taken intoconsideration when determining whether to index the fields 156associated with a particular feature (the fields 156 in a particularcolumn 152). Since the frequency at which the data in table 150 isrewritten varies depending on the feature with which the data isassociated (the column 152 in which the data is located), thedetermination of whether to index may be made on a feature-by-featurebasis. Such a determination may take into account the number of timesdata associated with a particular feature is read and written during aselected period of time and mat also take the computational cost ofindexing into account.

[0064] More specifically, the following equation may be used todetermine whether to index a feature:

Δt=n _(r) t _(r) −n _(w) t _(w)

[0065] In this equation, n_(r) is the number of reads of fields 156associated with a particular feature that are performed during aselected period of time, t_(r) is the time required for each read, n_(w)is the number of writes to fields 156 associated with the feature thatare performed during the selected period of time, and t_(w) is the timerequired for each write. Therefore, Δt is the difference between thetotal time required for reads during the selected period and the totaltime required for writes during the period. The above equation assumesthat it takes the same amount of time for each read and the same amountof time for each write. However, if different amounts of time arerequired for each read (or for each write), then the time for each read(or each write) during the selected period can be summed. Alternatively,an average or median read time (t_(r)) or write time (t_(w)) may be usedand multiplied by the number of reads (n_(r)) or number of writes(n_(w)), respectively. Furthermore, the read and write times used may bemeasured or may be specified based on knowledge of previous or expectedread and write times.

[0066] Using the above formula, the value of Δt is calculated for aparticular feature assuming that the associated fields 156 are indexedand the value of Δt is also calculated assuming that the fields 156 arenot indexed. The decision as to whether to index the feature is thenmade based on which Δt is smaller. The absolute value of Δt may be takento eliminate any negative numbers or Δt may be squared for the samepurpose. Using this exemplary method, if Δt with indexing is less thanΔt without indexing, then the fields 156 associated with the feature areindexed. If Δt with indexing is more than Δt without indexing, then thefields 156 associated with the feature are not indexed. Therefore, thedecision to index or not may be based on which option most closelybalances the total time required for reads and writes during a selectedperiod of time. Such a determination thus assumes that reads and writesare equally important (although, as described below, this may not be thecase).

[0067] An example of an indexing decision using the above equation is asfollows. During a day (the selected time period), one thousand reads areperformed and one hundred writes are performed for product dataassociated with a particular feature. If the fields 156 associated withthe feature are indexed, each read takes one second and each writestakes four seconds. If the fields 156 associated with the feature arenot indexed, each read takes two seconds and each write takes twoseconds. Therefore, indexing halves the read time, but doubles the writetime. Using the above equation, Δt with indexing is equal to(1000)(1)−(100)(4) or six hundred seconds and Δt without indexing isequal to (1000)(2)−(100)(2) or eighteen hundred seconds. Therefore,using the exemplary decision criteria described above, the decisionwould be made to index the feature.

[0068] Although the above equation and example determines the differencein total read time and total write time during the selected period, analternative calculation could be used that adds the total read time andthe total write time to determine the total time required for reads andwrites (n_(r)t_(r)+n_(w)t_(w)). This total time could be calculated fora particular feature with that feature being indexed and not indexed. Ifindexing produces a lower total read and write time than not indexing,then the feature may be indexed. If not, then the feature may not beindexed. Using the numbers in the example above, the total read andwrite time with indexing is fourteen hundred seconds and the total readand write time without indexing is twenty-two hundred seconds.Therefore, indexing the feature produces the minimum total read andwrite time and the feature may be indexed based on this determination.

[0069] The calculations described above (either adding or subtractingthe read and write times) may be repeated for each feature (each column152) included in tables 150 of a database 32. Based on the calculations,a determination may be made for each feature as to whether the fields156 associated with that feature should be indexed. If there is no limiton the number of features that may be indexed, then all features forwhich indexing is determined to be appropriate may be indexed. If notall features can be indexed, then those features having the lowest Δt orthe lowest total read and write time may be indexed. For example, theremay be a threshold above which a feature is not indexed even if indexingproduces a lower Δt than not indexing. For instance, if Δt with indexingis only slightly smaller than Δt without indexing, then the feature maynot be indexed since the computational and other costs associated withindexing would overshadow this small difference.

[0070] As described above, any appropriate period of time may beselected during which to determine the number of reads and the number ofwrites for the above calculations. However, it may be advantageous tochoose a period that is long enough to discount any temporaryfluctuations in reads or writes. For example, if the selected period isonce a minute and an abnormally large amount of writes occur during thatminute, then the indexing decision may be skewed. Furthermore, if suchfluctuations have a large impact on the indexing decision, then featuresmay indexed and “un-indexed” at a rate that is inefficient. Therefore,the selected period may preferably be a period that balances theadvantages of frequent indexing (such as making the indexing decisionflexible to changing conditions) and the disadvantages of frequentindexing and un-indexing (such as those described above). In addition,the database management system associated with a database 32 may trackpast indexing decisions to optimize the time period that is used.

[0071] Although the calculations described above equally weight thetotal read time and total write time during the selected period, unequalweighting of these times may be appropriate in certain circumstances.For example, a seller 30 may want to reduce the time that it takes for abuyer 20 or GCD 42 to access an associated database 32 at the expense ofthe write time required for the seller 30 to update data in database 32.Since seller 30 may perform such updates as a batch job during off-peakaccess hours, seller 30 may not be as concerned about the write time. Insuch a case, or in any other case where reads are determined to be moreimportant that writes (or vice versa), the more important factor may beemphasized in the equation above by adding a weighting factor. Forexample, the equation above may be rewritten as follows:

Δt=w _(r) n _(r) t _(r) −w _(w) n _(w) t _(w)

[0072] In this equation w_(r) is the weighting factor given to the readsand w_(w) is the weighting factor given to writes.

[0073] In an exemplary embodiment, each weighting factor is less than orequal to one and the sum of the weighting factors is equal to one. Forexample, if writes are determined to be nine times as important as readsand the numbers are used from the example above, then Δt with indexingis equal to |(0.1)(1000)(1)−(0.9)(100)(4)| or two hundred sixty secondsand Δt without indexing is equal to |(0.1)(1000)(2)−(0.9)(100)(2)| ortwenty seconds. Therefore, the decision would be made not to index thefeature (unlike the decision made when the read and write times wereequally weighted, as described above). A similar result is obtained ifthe total read and write time (w_(r)n_(r)t_(r)+w_(w)n_(w)t_(w)) isdetermined both with and without indexing and the minimum total read andwrite time is chosen.

[0074]FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary method for determining whether toindex the fields of a table 150 in a database 32. It should beunderstood, however, that the exemplary method and the variouscalculations described above apply to the indexing of any appropriatedatabase, not just a seller database 32 in e-commerce system 10. Theexemplary method begins at step 200 at which weighting factors w_(r) andw_(w) are determined, if appropriate. At step 202, t_(r) is determinedfor reads both with an index and without an index. At step 204, t_(w) isdetermined for writes both with an index and without an index. The timeperiod during which reads and writes are to be monitored is selected atstep 206. It should be noted that all of these determinations are madeindependent of the selection of a particular feature to possibly beindexed. Therefore, the exemplary method assumes that t_(r) and t_(w)are the same for every feature and that they can be determined beforethe reads and writes are monitored during the selected time period. Forexample, t_(r) and t_(w) may be based on past observations or otherhistorical data. However, as described above, the time required for eachread and write during the selected time period and/or for a particularfeature may also be determined. In such a case, steps 202 and 204 may beperformed during the selected time period and/or for the particularfeature.

[0075] At step 208 of the exemplary method, a feature is selected as thesubject of the indexing determination (whether the fields associatedwith the feature should be indexed). This determination may be made forthe various features of a table 150 in any appropriate order orsubstantially simultaneously (although each determination may still beindependent). At step 210, the number of reads that are performed duringthe selected time period on fields associated with the selected featureare monitored to determine the total number of reads performed. At step212, the same determination is made regarding the number of writesperformed. Steps 210 and 212 may be performed substantiallysimultaneously. The total time required for reads (n_(r)t_(r)) isdetermined for both the indexed and non-indexed cases at step 214 andthe total time required for writes (n_(w)t_(w)) is determined for boththe indexed and non-indexed cases at step 216. If appropriate, thevarious total times may also be weighted using suitable weightingfactors. As with steps 210 and 212, steps 214 and 216 may be performedsubstantially simultaneously.

[0076] At step 218, the total read times and total write times with andwithout indexing are evaluated to determine whether the fieldsassociated with the selected feature should be indexed. This evaluationmay be performed using the calculations described above or using anyother appropriate method. Once an indexing determination has been madefor a particular feature, the method may return to step 208, asindicated by arrow 220, so that an indexing determination may be madefor another feature (or such determinations may be made in parallel).When an indexing determination has been made for a particular feature,the indexing determination may be repeated for that feature at anyappropriate intervals. For example, once the selected time period hasexpired and an indexing determination has been made, the method may berepeated and another time period may begin. It should be understood thatalthough a particular series of steps is described, the steps may beperformed in any appropriate order and steps may be added or removed ifappropriate.

[0077] Although the present invention has been described with severalembodiments, numerous changes, substitutions, variations, alterations,and modifications may be suggested to one skilled in the art, and it isintended that the invention encompass all such changes, substitutions,variations, alterations, and modifications as fall within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for migrating product data within an electronic commerce system, comprising: monitoring requests for product data by users of a global content directory, the global content directory comprising: a directory structure comprising a plurality of product classes organized in a hierarchy, each product class categorizing a plurality of products and defining one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class; and one or more pointers associated with each product class, each pointer identifying a seller database in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products associated with the product class; identifying the location of a user; determining, in response to monitoring requests by the user, that the requested product data should be migrated from a seller database to a storage location closer to the user than the seller database; and initiating the migration of the product data from the seller database to the storage location.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein a request for product data by a user comprises a selection of a product from search results obtained from one or more seller databases by the global content directory and communicated to the user.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that product data should be migrated comprises determining that the user has requested the product data a selected number of times within a selected period of time.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the product data that is migrated comprises product data associated with a particular product.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the product data that is migrated comprises product data associated with each of a plurality of products included in a product class.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that the product data should no longer be stored at the storage location; and allowing the product data to be deleted or overwritten with other product data at the storage location.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining that the product data should no longer be stored at the storage location comprises determining that the user has not requested the product data for a specified period of time.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein determining that the product data should no longer be stored at the storage location comprises determining that the storage location is needed for migration and storage of product data for a second user.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein migrated product data is stored for access by each of a subset of the users and the storage location for the product data is determined based on the locations of each of the subset of users.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the location of each of the subset of users is weighted in the determination of the storage location based on the relative frequency with which each of the subset of users requests the product data.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that product data should be migrated comprises determining that product data from a plurality of seller databases should be migrated to the same storage location.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising merging the data from the plurality of seller databases into a single database at the storage location.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the product data is migrated to a computer associated with a user of the global content directory.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the product data is stored inside a firewall of the computer.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the migration of the product data comprises instructing the seller database to copy the product data for caching at the storage location.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising instructing the seller database to create a pointer to the storage location and to update the migrated product data using the pointer when the product data is updated in the seller database.
 17. Software for migrating product data within an electronic commerce system, the software embodied in a computer-readable medium and operable to: monitor requests for product data by users of a global content directory, the global content directory comprising: a directory structure comprising a plurality of product classes organized in a hierarchy, each product class categorizing a plurality of products and defining one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class; and one or more pointers associated with each product class, each pointer identifying a seller database in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products associated with the product class; identify the location of a user; determine, in response to monitoring requests by the user, that the requested product data should be migrated from a seller database to a storage location closer to the user than the seller database; and initiate the migration of the product data from the seller database to the storage location.
 18. The software of claim 17, wherein a request for product data by a user comprises a selection of a product from search results obtained from one or more seller databases by the global content directory and communicated to the user.
 19. The software of claim 17, wherein determining that product data should be migrated comprises determining that the user has requested the product data a selected number of times within a selected period of time.
 20. The software of claim 17, wherein the product data that is migrated comprises product data associated with a particular product.
 21. The software of claim 17, wherein the product data that is migrated comprises product data associated with each of a plurality of products included in a product class.
 22. The software of claim 17, further operable to: determine that the product data should no longer be stored at the storage location; and allowing the product data to be deleted or overwritten with other product data at the storage location.
 23. The software of claim 22, wherein determining that the product data should no longer be stored at the storage location comprises determining that the user has not requested the associated product for a selected period of time.
 24. The software of claim 22, wherein determining that the product data should no longer be stored at the storage location comprises determining that the storage location is needed for migration and storage of product data for a second user.
 25. The software of claim 17, wherein migrated product data is stored for access by each of a subset of the users and the storage location for the product data is determined based on the locations of each of the subset of users.
 26. The software of claim 25, wherein the location of each of the subset of users is weighted in the determination of the storage location based on the relative frequency with which each of the subset of users requests the product data.
 27. The software of claim 17, wherein determining that product data should be migrated comprises determining that product data from a plurality of seller databases should be migrated to the same storage location.
 28. The software of claim 27, further operable to merge the data from the plurality of seller databases into a single database at the storage location.
 29. The software of claim 17, wherein the product data is migrated to a computer associated with a user of the global content directory.
 30. The software of claim 29, wherein the product data is stored inside a firewall of the computer.
 31. The software of claim 17, wherein initiating the migration of the product data comprises instructing the seller database to copy the product data for caching at the storage location.
 32. The software of claim 31, further operable to instruct the seller database to create a pointer to the storage location and to update the migrated product data using the pointer when the product data is updated in the seller database.
 33. A method for migrating product data in an electronic commerce system, comprising: monitoring requests for product data by users of a global content directory, the requests each comprising a selection of a product from search results obtained from one or more seller databases by the global content directory and communicated to the user, the global content directory comprising: a directory structure comprising a plurality of product classes organized in a hierarchy, each product class categorizing a plurality of products and defining one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class; and one or more pointers associated with each product class, each pointer identifying a seller database in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products associated with the product class; identifying the location of a user; determining, in response to monitoring requests by the user, that the requested product data should be migrated from a seller database to a storage location closer to the user than the seller database based on the number of times the user has requested the product data within a specified period of time; and instructing the seller database to: copy the product data for caching at the storage location; create a pointer to the storage location; update the migrated product data using the pointer when the product data is updated in the seller database.
 34. Software for migrating product data within an electronic commerce system, the software embodied in a computer-readable medium and operable to: monitor requests for product data by users of a global content directory, the requests each comprising a selection of a product from search results obtained from one or more seller databases by the global content directory and communicated to the user, the global content directory comprising: a directory structure comprising a plurality of product classes organized in a hierarchy, each product class categorizing a plurality of products and defining one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class; and one or more pointers associated with each product class, each pointer identifying a seller database in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products associated with the product class; identify the location of a user; determine, in response to monitoring requests by the user, that the requested product data should be migrated from a seller database to a storage location closer to the user than the seller database based on the number of times the user has requested the product data within a specified period of time; and instruct the seller database to: copy the product data for caching at the storage location; create a pointer to the storage location; update the migrated product data using the pointer when the product data is updated in the seller database. 